For San Jose Sharks fans, a guide to SAP Center cocktails, craft brews

The famous Sharkarita, a margarita topped with blue curacao, as its served
in the North Bar of the Alaska Airlines Club at SAP Center. (Sal
Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)

In 23 years of visits to the Shark Tank — aka SAP Center at San Jose — I’d never once had a Sharkarita, the NHL team’s teal-hued signature cocktail. That is, until Jessica Lopez, a bartender at the Ice Bar on the arena’s concourse level, made one for me at the Sharks’ preseason opener.

It’s your basic margarita — tequila, triple sec and lime juice — with a garnish of shark-fin lime wedges and cherries (that’s the blood!) and the important splash of blue curacao liqueur. That last ingredient provides the color, but it also brings the sweetness up a notch. It’s not a cheap drink — mine was made with Patron Silver tequila and cost $12 — but it’s in the implied contract that all Sharks fans must have one at some point. So, mission accomplished.

Fortunately, there’s a lot more to enjoy at SAP Center than the Sharkarita. But before we go on, let’s be clear about a couple of things: Even drinking good booze doesn’t give you a license to be a jerk at a sporting event or concert. And drink responsibly. The Sharks, like every NHL team, have a program where designated drivers can sign up at the game and be entered in a sweepstakes for prizes at the end of the season.

With that in mind, here are your best bets at each seating level as the 2017-18 Sharks season gets under way:

The Concourse: This is where most fans will be before the game and during intermissions, scrambling to grab a hot dog, Ike’s sandwich or Rita’s Italian Ice (which is worth the wait). There will also be hordes of jersey-wearing guys and gals waiting in the same lines to pay more than $10 for a draft domestic beer. You can do much better than that.

On either end of the arena — sections 109 and 123 are good landmarks — you’ll find a set of stairs leading to Craft Beer Central, which serves Northern California brews on draft — Ballast Point Sculpin ($13), Sierra Nevada ($11), Lost Coast’s Great White ($11) and Lagunitas IPA ($11). There are also more California bottles and cans — or “packaged” as they’re listed — including Gordon Biersch’s Marzen ($11.50), 21st Amendment’s Brew Free or Die IPA ($10.50), Firestone’s 805 ($11.50) and, of course, the team’s signature beer, Gordon Biersch’s Chum ($10.50).

Yes, it’s a lot for a beer. But that’s the going rate in the building, and at least you’re drinking better beer.

And Craft Beer Central has a secret: There’s a full cocktail bar up there, too, and you can order a mixed drink for $12 or get a glass of wine for $9 to $11. The selection is good, with Ketel One vodka, Johnnie Walker Black Label scotch, Maker’s Mark bourbon, Hendrick’s gin and Jack Daniel’s among the labels.

Another good concourse choice is the Ice Bar, near section 115, where I had my Sharkarita. You can get a margarita or mai tai on tap for $14, or a mixed drink for $10 to $12, depending on the quality of liquor. There’s also Kendall Jackson wine available for $11 a glass. (Smaller kiosks along the concourse also serve mixed drinks and wine for the same prices and usually have shorter lines than the Ice Bar.)

Alaska Airlines Club Level: If you have club seats, you’ll do yourself a disservice if you don’t visit the North Bar, which is near section 115 and right next to a carving station that serves the best roast beef and turkey sandwiches you’ll find in the building. It’s also as close to an old-school cocktail lounge as you’re going to find at SAP Center. And that’s all because of the quartet of bartenders who are dishing out drinks to regulars. Between the four of them, John Martinson, Paul O’Connor, Rich Upright and Nona Ramos-Martin have been at the arena for a combined 71 years.

Martinson — he’s been there since the joint opened in 1993 — has a gap-toothed smile and the look of a bartender who’s seen it all. The North Bar has its regulars like any good dive, and the bartenders often set up their drinks at their regular tables just before the game breaks for the first intermission. Boston-born O’Connor — who started in 2005 — has an easy smile and a good retort for anyone who calls him “sir.” “Sir? I work for a living!” I heard him say it four times during one intermission and it got a laugh from every single customer.

The bar prices are about what they’re paying upstairs — $12 for a Maker’s Mark and club soda — but you should remember to tip. These guys are worth it.

BMW Lounge: SAP Center’s newest luxury level was created in the spot that used to house The Grill at SAP Center restaurant, and it’s reserved for about 400 ticketholders who are paying from $300 to $500 a game for the privilege (not to mention high-action seats in the first three rows). It’s a comfortable spot to spend an hour before the game, with couches, club chairs and tables.

One side of the club is taken up by a buffet station, where you can get gourmet bites like a fried chicken slider or carved Niman Ranch strip loin with wild mushroom sauce. There’s also a sushi station, a corner devoted to California cheese and even a tray of mini hot dogs. It’s all complimentary with the ticket, as are glasses of Miner wine, the Sharks’ newest culinary partner.

There’s a bar with two stations for the lounge crowd and table service for those seated in the dining area. Beer and wine come with the ticket, as do well drinks. It’s impressive when your well includes Tanqueray gin and Dewar’s Scotch. If you want to take it up a notch, though, you can upgrade to more premium varieties like Ketel One ($12.50), Basil Hayden’s ($14) or Courvoisier XO cognac ($40). The Scotch selection is worth noting, too, with Oban 14-year ($19), Lagavulin 16-year ($18) and Johnnie Walker Blue Label ($34) available.

Now, most people won’t be getting the BMW Club treatment at a Sharks game, but this guide shows that you don’t have to tone down your taste and settle for an overpriced cup of light beer. And, besides, there’s always the Sharkarita.